My dogs absolutely love rawhide so every now and then I'll give them a few. I know they are not that good for dogs; however, I live in a very rural area that does not have many butcher shops around .

I've been trying to find an organic rawhide that is made in the U.S., has no pesticides, chemicals, color additives and is salmonella free. I came across www.naturalrwahide.com. Has anybody every heard of this brand? Is it any good? Are they any other organic brands that come highly recommended. Thx for the help!

the naturalrawhide.com stuff looks good as far as quality goes, but they do not offer any compressed rawhides, which is the only kind i'd give to a dog. regular non-compressed rawhide poses a choking hazard and can cause intestinal blockages.

as far as i know there is no such thing as "organic" rawhide chews for dogs. organic hides are highly prized and often sold to artisans who manufacture drums and other items that are made with hides.

i would also stay away from any commercially manufactured stuff like pig ears, cow hooves and various other nondigestible body parts. if you want to buy your dog a chewie, stick with bully sticks, dried lamb lung, chicken jerky and similar things. they are pretty much fully digestible.

i honestly can't tell you how long bully sticks last. it depends on how much of a chewer the individual dog is. mine is not a big guy (only 30 lbs), but a crazy chewer and he can completely demolish an 8-inch piece in under 10 minutes. a friend of mine has a lab mix who can make the same size last for a week or so. lol

you can check out the merrick site (merrickpetcare.com). check the "tendons", "treats" and "filets" pages. redbarninc.com is anoher manufacturer site that offers a lot of stuff.

sometimes it isn't easy to pick out what's good and what is junk, but if you keep in mind that you want mostly muscle meat and not indigestible things like ears, hooves etc., you should be fine.

oh, and stay away from all those cooked/roasted bones. those are the dangerous ones.

you say you live in a rural area - wouldn't it be possible for you to locate some meat processing plant and see what they have to offer you? you might be surprised, someone i know found a slaughterhouse that sells her giant boxes of all kinds of raw bones and parts for literally cents per pound.